{"id":10583,"date":"2011-06-20T10:31:57","date_gmt":"2011-06-20T09:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=10583"},"modified":"2011-06-20T10:31:57","modified_gmt":"2011-06-20T09:31:57","slug":"hmrc-moves-to-tackle-tax-evasion-welcome-but-it-will-not-work-without-more-people-to-enforce-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2011\/06\/20\/hmrc-moves-to-tackle-tax-evasion-welcome-but-it-will-not-work-without-more-people-to-enforce-it\/","title":{"rendered":"HMRC moves to tackle tax evasion welcome – but it will not work without more people to enforce it"},"content":{"rendered":"

I welcome this\u00a0initiative\u00a0by HMRC to tackle tax\u00a0evasion<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Businesses and individuals avoiding tax payments are to be targeted by new software launched by\u00a0HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).<\/p>\n

The software, set to be launched later this year, will work by searching the internet to identify small businesses and personal ventures, such as private tutors and eBay traders, who may be operating a business and not declaring their income.<\/p>\n

HMRC said that websites including\u00a0Amazon,\u00a0Gumtree and\u00a0eBay would be looked at and that any discrepancies, such as traders not being registered for self-assessment, would help the tax body identify those who have failed to pay the correct amount of tax.<\/p>\n

Mike Wells, HMRC\u2019s director of risk and intelligence, said the purpose of the software was to \u201creduce the tax gap and help customers pay what they owe\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That makes complete sense.<\/p>\n

But note too what I said last week at the National Pensioners Convent<\/a>ion:<\/p>\n

In 2005 there were 100,000 people working at HM Revenue & Customs. By 2015 there will be 50,000. And I\u2019ll tell you something very simple, very straightforward, and obvious to anyone.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t catch tax cheats with a computer.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t catch tax cheats by sending a letter and asking them to send a cheque by return.<\/p>\n

You trap tax cheats by hard work, by real people, using real skills, to ensure that the tax that is owing, the tax that is paying your pensions, is collected.<\/p>\n

And the last government to its shame, and the current government to its discredit, have chosen to cut the number of people at HM Revenue & Customs doing just that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I stand by that, because it's true.<\/p>\n

This new software can find who it likes - but only people will resolve whether tax is due.<\/p>\n

And I'd add - if small business is picked on and big business continues to get away with cosy deals none of this is going to work: there will be too great a sentiment of alienation amongst the business community for any effective cooperation to\u00a0exist\u00a0- and all tax is\u00a0eventually\u00a0imposed by consent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I welcome this\u00a0initiative\u00a0by HMRC to tackle tax\u00a0evasion: Businesses and individuals avoiding tax payments are to be targeted by new software launched by\u00a0HM Revenue & Customs
 Read the full article…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}